Chronology

1872, Aug. 15      - Sri Aurobindo is born in Calcutta; he spends his first years at Rangpur (now in Bangladesh), and at the age of 5 is sent to Loreto Convent School, Darjeeling.

1878, Feb. 21      - Mother is born in Paris.

1879, June          - Sri Aurobindo leaves India for England with his parents and his two elder brothers. He spends 5 years in Manchester, enters St. Paul's School, London, in 1884, and King's College, Cambridge, in 1890.

1885, Dec.           - First session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay.

1886, Aug. 16      - Sri Ramakrishna passes away.

1892, August       - Sri Aurobindo passes the I.C.S.; he does not appear at a riding test and is disqualified.

1893, Feb. 6        - Lands at Bombay and soon joins the State service of the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda. From August, 1893 to March, 1894, contributes to the Indu Prakash a series of articles, “New Lamps for Old.”

1893, May 31      - Swami Vivekananda sails for America.

1894, April 8        - Bankim Chandra Chatterji passes away. In July-August, Sri Aurobindo writes a series of articles on him in the Indu Prakash.

1897                    - Sri Aurobindo teaches French, then English at the Baroda College; he will become its Vice-Principal in 1905.

1897, Jan. 15      - Swami Vivekananda lands at Colombo, and on his way north delivers many lectures throughout India.

c. 1900                - Sri Aurobindo takes first contacts with secret societies in Maharashtra and Bengal.

1901, April 30      - Sri Aurobindo marries Mrinalini Bose.

1902, July 4         - Swami Vivekananda passes away.

1905                    - Sri Aurobindo writes Bhawani Mandir, a revolutionary pamphlet.

                            - Partition of Bengal, beginning of the Swadeshi movement.

1906, August       - Bepin Chandra Pal launches the Bande Mataram (English daily); Sri Aurobindo joins it and soon becomes its editor.

                            - On August 15, the Bengal National College opens with Sri Aurobindo as its principal.

1906, Dec.           - At its Calcutta session presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji, the Congress declares Swaraj to be its goal.

1907, Aug. 16      - Sri Aurobindo is arrested for the publication of seditious writings in the Bande Mataram; released on bail. He resigns his post of principal of the Bengal National College, giving on August 23 a speech to the students and teachers. Acquitted a month later.

1907, Dec.           - At the Surat session of the Congress, the Nationalist party with Sri Aurobindo presiding over its conference breaks away from the Moderates.

                            - First session of the Muslim League at Karachi.

1908, January     - In Baroda, Sri Aurobindo meets Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, a Maharashtrian yogi, and experiences the Brahman consciousness. Gives many speeches on his way back to Calcutta.

1907-1908           - Many Nationalist leaders, such as Lala Lajpat Rai, Tilak, Ashwini Kumar Dutt, etc., are deported under various repressive laws. The Nationalist movement goes underground.

1908, May 2        - Sri Aurobindo is arrested in the Alipore Bomb Case; spends a year in jail and is acquitted on May 6, 1909.

1909                    - The Morley-Minto reforms provide separate electorates for Indian Muslims.

1909, May 30      - Sri Aurobindo's famous Uttarpara speech.

1909, June 19     - First issue of the Karmayogin (English weekly).

1909, Aug. 23      - First issue of the Dharma (Bengali weekly).

1910, February    - Sri Aurobindo abruptly leaves Calcutta for Chandernagore; on March 31, he will leave for Pondicherry.

1910, April 4        - Sri Aurobindo reaches Pondicherry.

                            - Charged with sedition for an article in the Karmayogin (the charge will be rejected in November).

1914, March 29   - First meeting with Mother.

1914, June          - Tilak is released from a six-year-long deportation to Burma.

1914, Aug. 15      - First issue of the Arya (English monthly), which will appear until January, 1921.

1916, Dec.           - “Lucknow Pact” between the Congress and the Muslim League.

1919-1920           - Beginning of the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements under the growing leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.

1920                    - Sri Aurobindo turns down several offers to return to British India and to active politics.

1920, April 24      - Mother returns to Pondicherry from Japan.

1920, Aug. 1        - Lokmanya Tilak passes away.

1920, October     - Dr. B. S. Munje pays a visit to Sri Aurobindo.

1920, Dec.           - Nagpur session of the Congress; the goal of Swaraj is eclipsed by the Khilafat agitation.

1923, June 5       - Chittaranjan Das meets Sri Aurobindo.

1923, Sept.          - Creation of the Swarajya Party.

1925, Jan. 5        - Lala Lajpat Rai and Purushottamdas Tandon meet Sri Aurobindo.

1925, June 16     - Deshbandu Chittaranjan Das passes away.

1926, Nov. 24      - Sri Aurobindo withdraws completely to concentrate on his work.

1928, Feb. 16      - Rabindranath Tagore meets Sri Aurobindo.

1928, Nov. 17      - Lala Lajpat Rai passes away a few weeks after having been assaulted by the police during a demonstration at Lahore.

1929, Dec.           - The Lahore session of the Congress, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, adopts the goal of complete independence.

1930-1932           - Three Round Table Conferences with, in August 1932, the Communal Award which hardens divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Savage repression of the Civil Disobedience Movement by the British rulers.

1937                    - Formation of Congress ministries in the Provinces.

1938, Nov. 24      - Sri Aurobindo breaks his leg while walking in concentration.

1939, Sept.          - World War II breaks out; the Provincial ministries resign in October-November.

1940, March        - The Muslim League, in session at Lahore, formally demands the creation of Pakistan.

1940, Sept. 19     - Sri Aurobindo's declaration in support of the Allies.

1941, March        - Subhas Bose, having escaped from detention in Calcutta, arrives in Germany.

1941, Aug. 7        - Rabindranath Tagore passes away.

1942, March 31   - Sri Aurobindo publicly supports Cripps' proposals; the Congress turns them down.

1942, April           - The Japanese overrun Burma and bomb cities on India's east coast.

1942, Aug. 9        - Start of the “Quit India” movement; Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders are arrested soon afterwards.

1944, July            - Subhas Bose's Indian National Army and the Japanese are repulsed in Manipur.

1946, Aug. 16      - The Muslim League launches its “Direct Action” plan; bloody riots follow in Bengal and Bihar.

1946, Sept. 2       - Formation of the Interim Government, which the Muslim League joins a month later.

1947, March 24   - Lord Mountbatten is the new Viceroy.

1947, June          - On the 3rd, Mountbatten announces the British government's final decision to grant India independence on the basis of partition; on the 14th, the Congress accepts the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.

1947, Aug. 15      - India's Independence; Sri Aurobindo's 75th birthday.

1947, October     - Pakistan attacks Kashmir; the Indian army repels Pakistani troops, but Nehru calls a halt to the fighting and takes the dispute to the United Nations.

1948, Jan. 30      - Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated.

1950, October     - China invades Tibet; India remains a silent spectator.

1950, Dec. 5        - Sri Aurobindo leaves his body. Mother continues his work.


 




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